The Q&A facility of ResearchGate is a great way for workers to find solutions to vexing problems, make contact with like minded researchers, etc. Yet, it seems a long way from the support that could yield increased collaborative interaction between researchers, and perhaps even lead to publications. What might others wish for in such a facility? Would such a facility get used? Other comments?
I've made a few such uses of ResearchGate, such as presenting a dataset regarding the nature of ordered symbol sequences (the maximal degree of disorder representable by such a sequence). There are a few replies, and the work has advanced with time. Indeed, the post serves as both lab notebook and chronology of development of the ideas I give regarding the character of maximal sequence disorder. See:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Not_a_question_but_an_invitation_to_discussion-Shannon_Chaitin_and_the_genome
One idea that come to mind, for use of ResearchGate, is the provision of forums dedicated to one topic or question but that are more easily accessible than is the following of a question. In the extreme, such forums could perhaps best be implemented via the mechanisms of SecondLife; real-time, world-wide, interpersonal and virtual conferences and laboratories. Cloud computing looks ripe for this application.
I would be VERY cautious about placing research data and paper drafts in online space I do not control.
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